The present invention relates to storage containers for cremated remains and to a system for attaching a plurality of the storage containers for displaying displays on each container.
There have been a variety of urns for holding cremated human and animal remains. These include a wide variety of decorative memorial urns which can be stored indoors or outdoors in repository structures in permanent side-by-side niche arrangements formed in or along the walls of a building. The decorative urns of varying shapes are placed in the niches and usually have glass covers placed over the openings of the niches for viewing purposes. Such an urn niche repository is sometimes referred to as a columbarium. Closed faced niches are also used in columbariums and these are usually covered with face plates of bronze, marble, or granite which may carry personalized memorial inscriptions pertaining to the deceased. In such closed faced niche internments, a less expensive non-decorative urn-like container may also be used. Urns containing cremated remains are also stored outdoors in closed faced niches formed in vertical standing walls and in horizontally situated internment arrays. There have also been various framed or modular structures for supporting urns but they have frequently proved unduly expensive and complex to manufacture and construct. In order to reduce cost without sacrificing the aesthetic appearance of niche repositories, it has been proposed to make the niche openings in non-decorative containers of a standardized size.
Typical prior art storage systems for holding cremated remains may be seen in the Hancovsky patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,417, which has an urn-like canister for storing and transporting cremated remains made of a molded plastic material. The canister is adapted to be inserted into one of an array of openings formed in a niche plate of a type having a recessed flange surrounding each niche opening. In the See patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,359, a mausoleum for cremated remains includes linear and columnar displays of arrays of transparent display vessels which can be illuminated. The Eickhof patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,812, is a columbarium constructed with a framework having vertical risers and having brackets mounted thereto. Tie rods extend horizontally through the brackets to connect the risers to form niche supports for cremated remains which can have a decorative stone facing attached to the front of each shelf. The Schorman patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,603, is for a storage container for human remains. The Hunter patent, U.S. Pat. No. 617,161, is a burial structure for human remains. The Diem patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,183,574, is for an urn and a frame for supporting the urns. The combination urn and frame construction has a supporting frame for supporting a plurality of cremation urns. The frame has pairs of parallel horizontal bars and a plurality of vertical spacers interconnected for supporting the urns.
The Pangburn et al. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,805, is an urn storage assembly for the internment of cremated remains and has a plurality of tubular storage members of rectangular cross-section shaped to receive cremated remains. The Thompson patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,529,730, is a repository for cremated remains which includes a frame structure supporting a plurality of storage tube members in a generally parallel, side-by-side and top-to-bottom relationship. Each of the storage tubes slidably receives a plurality of individual urn containers and the ends of the tubes are provided with closure means. The Pickel patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,944, is directed towards niches for holding urns containing the ashes of deceased persons. A window opening in one exterior wall of a building is filled with box-shaped niches for holding the urns and each niche has an inner end panel and each niche has a decorative outer end face with a light transmitting portion attached to the outer end of the niche. The end faces contain glass inserts which are illuminated by outside light emitted through the light transmitting portion of the outer face of the wall.
The present invention is a modular storage container for cremated remains specifically shaped to fit into a prefabricated storage system or structure with each of the storage containers having a decorative panel mounted in the front thereof so that the panels are connected together to form one continuous panel.